NightmareBeforeChristmasStuck (DISCONTINUED)
by Darklois69
Summary: Jack Skellington was walking through the woods one day, when he stumbled upon a new tree, with Trolls falling out of it! ((completely my own thought processes, but I do not own Nightmare Before Christmas or Homestuck. please review and favorite if you like it. THANK YOU!))
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

(3rd person limited, Jack's thoughts only)

It was the 10-year anniversary of the night Jack attempted to give Sandy Claws a "vacation," AKA the Christmas that almost wasn't. As Jack stood atop Spiral Hill in the midst of the snow, Sandy-er, Santa rode in his sleigh over Halloween Town after a long night of giving out presents to those who deserved them and coal (or some leftover presents from Jack) to those naughty children.

Every year as Santa headed home, he always brought some snow to Halloween Town for the residents there to celebrate for a night. This year though, Jack didn't feel the same as previous years; it felt as though something was amiss in the world of joy and screams. So, doing as a good Pumpkin King would do to protect his people, he went off to where he felt the trouble was coming from: The Hinterlands, home of the Holiday Trees.

He walked down Spiral Hill as it uncurled before him to lead to the woods. 'Time to start wandering around,' Jack thought as he entered the dense forest laid out in front of him.

A few hours later (maybe?) he discovered himself in a very familiar place, seeing as every year as the new year began all the Holiday Leaders gathered here to convene and prevent another holiday from being taken over or worse, destroyed entirely.

This time however, he was alone, which hadn't happened since he first discovered this place a little over a decade ago. 'Everything seems in order,' he thought. 'So why did-'

*CREAK, CREAK, CRACK*

The sudden sounds from the otherwise silent forest startled Jack, and he walked carefully toward the sound. Some distance away from the Halloween Tree he found the source of noise: a…new tree?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

(Same as Chap.1)

This was peculiar, strange, and some may even say scary! Jack had never heard of a new tree growing in the Hinterlands, nor had he heard of one growing so fast! This new tree wasn't like all the others, either; its bark was dark, almost black in color, its branches gnarled and twisting in on themselves, so many of them in fact, they nearly grew together in some places. The tree itself soon stopped growing, but something was beginning to take form on the side of the trunk facing Jack. It looked like a house, only in a lime green color. When the color seemed to harden, so to speak, a doorknob popped onto the door and Jack could hear words he had only ever heard when he was alive, and some he'd never heard at all.

The door opened, and the cursing got louder. "GOGDAMNIT, STRIDER! WHERE/WHEN IN THE HELL HAVE YOU LANDED US THIS FUCKING TIME?!" Out stepped what looked to be a grey skinned teenager with short, candy-corn horns dressed entirely in grey and black. He (Jack assumed by the voice the teen was male) was followed by a boy about his age wearing red head to toe, and a girl the same age covered in orange. The girl and boy seemed to be floating on air, almost, and as she talked, she appeared to be the one in charge.

"Karkat, must you always be so loud and use such profanity? I do not believe we are any-when, so I must ask as well. Dave, where have you taken us now?"

Jack decided that moment was good enough for him to introduce himself. "You're in the Hinterlands, and I am Jack Skellington, the King of Halloween Town!" he said with a bow. As he looked up he noticed the grey-skinned boy we now know as Karkat coming at him with a pair of sickles in just enough time to jump nimbly away, then noticed the boy in the red- Dave -had a broken sword in his hand as well, perhaps as backup in case Karkat's attacks failed.

The girl in orange put a hand on Dave's shoulder ad told him to 'get Karkat to calm down.' This resulted in Dave coming up behind Karkat and picking him up by his collar, dragging him off to another tree, and shoosh-paping him till he calmed down. Jack didn't understand what was going on entirely, but he tried to be a gracious host. "May I ask your names, please? It seems proper since you know mine now," he asked the girl kindly.

"Of course, sir. My name is Rose Lalonde, the boy who attacked you is Karkat Vantas, and the other boy is Dave Strider. I apologize for the way Karkat reacted, but we have no idea where we are nor how we came to be in this place," she explained.

"Well," Jack started, "as I said, you are in the Hinterlands. If you follow me, I can lead you three to my town and we can figure out I plan to get you all home."

"That sounds like a lovely idea, Jack. I'll go get the others," she said, and then went back into the tree trunk. The door stayed open for her, unlike the other holiday trees, which close after a few moments.

Seemingly calmed down, Karkat and Dave may their way back over to you and the tree. "I'M FUCKING SORRY FOR ATTACKING YOU. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW, STRIDER?"

"Eh, sure, for now," replyed the red-clad teenager. "I'm Dave, by the way, if Rose didn't already tell ya."

Just at that moment, Rose stepped out of the tree and out of the way just as a cat-girl pounced on Karkat, knocking them both over. A deep voice came from the tree calling, "D - Nepeta, please be more careful!" followed by the person whom Jack assumed the voice belonged to, and a woman with a long, red skirt on and horns, but not like Karkat's; hers were longer and her left horn was bent at the tip, while her other one was just straight.

Rose introduced them all, starting with the girl standing next to her in a red skirt, Kanaya Maryam; the cat-girl, Nepeta Leijon; and the strong-voiced individual, Equius Zahhak. The seven of them soon headed back towards the circle of Holiday Trees to the Halloween door, and Jack opened it.

"Don't worry, anyone. You'll most likely land in the cemetery near the outskirts of town, so wait until I land to start going anywhere," Jack said to the teens befuddled faces (and Karkat's questioning, "WHY THE FUCK IS HE OPENING A FUCKING DOOR INTO A TREE? AND WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GO?")

After a few moments of standing and Jack trying to tell them it was ok, Dave moved toward the open door with Karkat close behind him. They looked into the seemingly endless blackness, and, while Karkat was distracted, Dave "tripped" him and Karkat's screams of profanity and cursing Dave's name were heard for miles around. Dave jumped in after Karkat had fell for a few seconds, then Nepeta, Equius, and Kanaya jumped in. Rose lingered for a moment with Jack.

"Thank you for showing us this hospitality, Jack. I must apologize for their actions," she said sincerely.

"No worries, Rose. What kind of host would I be if I wasn't hospitable?" Jack asked. Rose nodded in agreement and floated into Halloween Town. Jack took one last look around the circle before jumping back home with his new guests.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

(Lock, Shock, and Barrel's House)

A decade had gone by without their master, and without any major pranks. But this night was going to be different. Oogie Boogie would come back and Jack would pay.

The trio of miscreants made their way from the treehouse they called home to Spiral Hill, to dig up Oogie from where Jack and the Mayor buried him in the Hinterlands and sew him back together, with all his little bugs.

When they got to Spiral Hill, Shock waited patiently for the hill to uncurl while Lock had to hold Barrel back. They soon made their way to the grave of their soon-to-be resurrected leader.

As they neared the headstone, Barrel became distracted and wandered off toward a sound he'd heard. Shock, who was too busy digging, heard nothing while Lock ran off to find Barrel. 'Have to put a collar on that boy,' he thought. 'A shock collar from Dr. Finklestein, that would do him some good.'

Barrel had wandered far from the others to follow what seemed to be the Clown's horn honking. But soon it dawned on him. 'Clown would never come out here without Jack or someone else,' he realized. So who could it be? As they came closer to the figure, Barrel saw this person was much taller than himself, and had what looked like paint dripping off of his clubs….


	4. Not a Chapter, But Still Kinda Important

Ok, hi everyone. Not an actual chapter, I'm sorry. I just wanted to tell ya'll why there hasn't been a chapter in a while. I know where I want the story to go, but I can't figure out how to get there. Give me some (more) time, and I will try to write something.

Thank you all for reading this story! :)


	5. Chapter 4

((First off, I am SO sorry I haven't updated in so long. Writer's block hit me like a truck. Second, I don't actually know when the next chapter will be up after this, so I apologize in advance. Anyways, here ya go!))

As Jack landed in the cemetery, he saw the Hanging Tree standing tall and proud amidst the snow. Looking behind himself, Jack noticed Dave pulling Karkat to his feet, Equius rising with Nepeta on his back, and Rose helping Kanaya stand. He motioned for them to follow him as he began the walk home.

Jack stayed quiet while walking, so as to listen to the other's conversations. Rose and Kanaya talked of the suit Jack wore, and how slimming the pinstripe is; Karkat cursed as Nepeta tried to "play with Karkitty," Equius trailing behind them both; and Dave, well Dave said nothing (like the cool kid he is).

"Hey, Jack!"

Jack turned toward the gates of Halloween Town to see the Mayor, smiling in all his two-faced glory. His head spun once he saw the others, however.

"Hello, Mayor!" Jack said, waving. "Everyone, this is the Mayor." Everyone (except Dave) waved and introduced themselves while the Mayor stood there with a worried look on his face.

"Jack, where have you been? We need to start thinking about next Halloween! We only have 310 days until-" the Mayor started.

"Mayor, Mayor, calm down," Jack interrupted. "Things will go fine, just as they always have. Now, where is Sally, if you know?"

The Mayor just shook his head, making it spin slightly. "I don't know, Jack. She was at the town hall, last I saw."

"Then that's where we'll go," Jack said, standing tall. He began walking up to the doors of the town hall, and out Sally came, followed by a shade of some kind. Jack thought it seemed familiar, then the memory of who last had such a shadow popped into his skull. He started running after Sally right then, determined to save her. The kids/trolls knew nothing of what was happening, so they just watched, waiting to help if help was needed.

Sally was running toward the witches store, not knowing she was not alone. The shade stayed a few feet behind her, cackling all the while. Jack was not far behind them, and heard nothing except the slight 'pat, pat, pat' of his footsteps.

Jack threw himself through the shade and landed just behind Sally, picking her up and racing back to the others. Karkat was the first to see them returning, as everyone else was talking. He pulled out his sickles, and jumped at the shadow. He landed a solid hit and cut the shadow, revealing a light green underside and releasing ghost bugs.

Jack set Sally down by Rose and Kanaya, ran up to his study, grabbed his Soul Robber, and ran back down the stairs. As he came back to the fountain area, he saw pieces of the shadow on the ground, shreds of the 'fabric' everywhere with Karkat was standing over the pieces. Sally was in slight hysterics, so he went over to his ragdoll and made sure she wasn't in pieces.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" Karkat asked.

"That was someone that shouldn't be here anymore," Sally answered.

"Oogie Boogie was his name," Jack said. "In the beginning, he was just another nightmare. The Boogie Man, as lots of children knew him. When he got tired of his role here, he and three others started playing pranks on the townsfolk."

"And he tried to kill you, Jack! Quite a few times!" Sally interjected. Jack nodded, agreeing with her statement.

"If he is not supposed to be here, what was that?" Rose asked.

"About five years ago, he was reassembled. His shadow was the first boss figh- I mean, my first re-encounter with him. It took a little time, but I found his reanimated self and defeated him for a second time," Jack told them. "If his shade is here again, he may be re-made once more."

Behind Karkat, the shreds of Oogie's shadow were moving closer and closer together, along with his ghost bugs. Soon, the pieces were whole once more, but not in the form of Oogie.

"Honk, honk," came a voice from the shadow. The voice made all of the trolls shiver and grab for their weapons. By the time they'd turned around, there was no trace of the form.

Karkat, fueled by rage (as always) and fear (though he'd never admit to it) attacked the ground the shade had disappeared from with a loud "AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

"Is this normal for him?" Jack asked the other trolls. As she lowered her chainsaw, Kanaya nodded. She transformed her chainsaw back into lipstick and Sally looked at her, wondering what magic she used to do such a thing. After the ground was good and destroyed, Karkat stood back up and placed his twin sickles back into his encryption sylladex.

"Let Us Continue This Discussion Elsewhere, Shall We?" Kanaya asked the group. Rose nodded, along with Jack and Sally, and the four of them went to Jack's house. Nepeta and Equius wandered toward the village, and Karkat sat on the edge of the fountain. Dave pushed Karkat aside and sat down. Karkat climbed into Dave's lap to somewhat reclaim his position when some one came through the gate.

Well, technically four some ones: A teenage boy wearing devil horns and a red, forked tail, with a red mask tied to his belt; a teenage girl wearing a witch's hat covering stringy black hair, carrying a green mask; and another teenage boy with a skeleton suit and a skull mask covering slicked back green hair. And someone else Karkat never thought he'd see again.

His ex-moriale, Gamzee Makara. For once, Karkat was stunned and could only say one thing;

"OH, FUCK."


	6. I'm sorry

I'm sorry everyone, but I'm discontinuing this story. I'm tired of writing for someone else, so from now on I won't be.

I'm sorry to everyone who read this story. I really am.


End file.
